A document that turns 232 years old today helped to found a country whose birthday we have declared to be every July 4th. That document, the Declaration of Independence, serves as the fundamental outline of the American project and dream. It is true that the document itself does not grant any legal powers. The concepts outlined in it, however, reflect liberal thought at its most core: that all individuals were created equal, that all have the rights to life and to the liberty to pursue their own goals as they see fit. It is, overall, a very eloquent document.
Some have questioned the supposed evident truths encountered in it, however. They say that the basis for those rights, that is, the social contract, rely on an is-ought fallacy. They claim that because John Locke first describes the state of nature and then says that we must try to preserve it as much as possible, that the rights guaranteed are not necessarily good or self-evident: they are instead only an example of how “the current situation exists, therefore we must preserve it”. Thus, we do not have natural rights.
This argument is not true. If one accepts the basic premise of the state of nature, then there are two very obvious aspects about it. First, individuals are relatively free, which is good. Secondly, individuals are violent, which is not good. The goal of all social contracts and natural rights are simply to preserve the former while limiting the latter. The rights are not artificially constructed: they are built into the idea that freedom is good, and that thus people have the inherent right to what is good, in this case freedom.
To question natural rights, then, is to say that what is good should not be inherently given to people. Such a position is hardly defensible. Thus, on this 4th of July, let us celebrate our natural rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
